Author Topic: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?  (Read 272367 times)

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Offline chemik

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #975 on: October 06, 2023, 05:51:51 pm »
Well, mine came straight from China, so I don't think there's an option for warranty repair. @mebel thanks for the link, it looks like that might be the same problem as I have
 

Offline c0d3z3r0

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #976 on: October 06, 2023, 07:27:44 pm »
@drsky sooo... I disassembled my t3a once again and once again can confirm that all three the smps, the controller board and the handle are buzzing. Even after "fixing" the handle, controller board and smps keep buzzig  :-/O
AiXun T3A reverse engineering: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev
AiXun T3x F(L)OSS update tool: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3x_updater
 

Offline mebel

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #977 on: October 06, 2023, 07:39:05 pm »
Mine also was, but there wasn't any problem with warranty. It depends from whom you have bought.
 

Offline floobydust

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #978 on: October 06, 2023, 08:03:24 pm »
@drsky sooo... I disassembled my t3a once again and once again can confirm that all three the smps, the controller board and the handle are buzzing. Even after "fixing" the handle, controller board and smps keep buzzig  :-/O

To troubleshoot further, you'd have to go in with a scope and look around. At 24V power, the heater and thermocouple op-amp output signal etc.
I'm assuming the buzz is at the PWM freq. Their firmware could have a bug and double pulse or something odd to make it sonic. Any whistle could be the SMPS going unstable.

The handle socket is aluminum?  :palm:  Try put a magnet on the leafs if you ever go there again and see if it's steel.
It's too bad china avoids copper and nickel-plating at all costs, giving us el crapola connections. We can't pay $1 more for a step up in quality?

Reading the elektroda forum, there are few people unhappy about the reliability of these stations.
 
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Offline c0d3z3r0

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #979 on: October 06, 2023, 08:40:26 pm »
@drsky sooo... I disassembled my t3a once again and once again can confirm that all three the smps, the controller board and the handle are buzzing. Even after "fixing" the handle, controller board and smps keep buzzig  :-/O

To troubleshoot further, you'd have to go in with a scope and look around. At 24V power, the heater and thermocouple op-amp output signal etc.

Yes, I didn't invest too much time but I checked at least 24V, heater and PWM signal, just didn't upload it yet, but there you go:

- 24V at load during buzzing:


- heater signal:


- PWM signal at Q4-1:


I'm assuming the buzz is at the PWM freq. Their firmware could have a bug and double pulse or something odd to make it sonic. Any whistle could be the SMPS going unstable.

Yep, that's what I mentioned earlier. High-frequency PWM is not the best way to control heating here...

The handle socket is aluminum?  :palm:  Try put a magnet on the leafs if you ever go there again and see if it's steel.

Didn't check it thoroughly, but to me it looks more like steel than aluminum. Anyone have a magnet to test it? Looks like I lost mine...

It's too bad china avoids copper and nickel-plating at all costs, giving us el crapola connections. We can't pay $1 more for a step up in quality?
Reading the elektroda forum, there are few people unhappy about the reliability of these stations.

Mine also was, but there wasn't any problem with warranty. It depends from whom you have bought.

Yeeeah, well.... no more warranty after my ESD modifications :'D Anyway, I doubt a new station would be *much* different. Did you listen closely when heating > 300° ? Maybe buzzing just is a bit quieter but I doubt it's gone completely.
« Last Edit: October 06, 2023, 08:50:32 pm by c0d3z3r0 »
AiXun T3A reverse engineering: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev
AiXun T3x F(L)OSS update tool: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3x_updater
 

Offline drksy

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #980 on: October 06, 2023, 11:17:44 pm »
@drsky sooo... I disassembled my t3a once again and once again can confirm that all three the smps, the controller board and the handle are buzzing. Even after "fixing" the handle, controller board and smps keep buzzig  :-/O

Hmm, that's at least one third of the mystery solved. But it seems the story doesn't end here.

- heater signal:


What are those little spikes you are getting on the falling edge of PWM? I don't remember seeing those on mine. Sucks I can't probe mine again until next week.

Did you listen closely when heating > 300° ? Maybe buzzing just is a bit quieter but I doubt it's gone completely.

I remember testing at different temperatures from 280 to 400, the buzzing doesn't improve or change much at all.
 

Offline T3sl4co1l

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #981 on: October 06, 2023, 11:53:18 pm »
Looks suspiciously like EFT, but of much lower amplitude.  Could be stray inductance bouncing against a diode.

I didn't catch where this was probed or how, but if it's the heater switch transistor, it would figure that the top is sloped with a PSU-related time constant as it bogs down under heavy load (the ~8A) and either throttles up during the pulse, or it's droop across PS capacitors' ESR; turn-off is incredibly slow compared to turn-on, but nonetheless it seems it's bouncing on what would otherwise be flyback.

Oh, or maybe it is the PSU.  There's possibly the same blips during the pulse, though more balanced looking; dampened from the heavy load present perhaps?  Then the pulses decaying would be the PSU throttling back down.

6 pulses / 104us (that's 104us/div, right? huh...) sounds like a plausible PSU frequency.

Tim
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Bringing a project to life?  Send me a message!
 
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Offline floobydust

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #982 on: October 07, 2023, 01:00:16 am »
Thanks for takling the time to get some scope traces.
I can see the HF pulses are around 66kHz so an artifact from the SMPS and/or scope grounding.

- PWM signal at Q4-1: RigolDS15
That looks terrible, something wrong with the MCU PWM output. After it's finished the pulse to mosfet driver Q4-B it looks like the output pin is wrongly changed to floating? It shouldn't cause a problem but it shows sloppy coding. Who thinks that heater pulse of 0.05msec is good for anything too lol.
R6 10k is too big and the slow mosfet turn off. Note you want the gate driven to it's max. in the event you run this off batteries and have lower VCC say 16-19V.
 
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Offline drksy

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #983 on: October 07, 2023, 07:07:35 am »
The handle socket is aluminum?  :palm:  Try put a magnet on the leafs if you ever go there again and see if it's steel.
It's too bad china avoids copper and nickel-plating at all costs, giving us el crapola connections. We can't pay $1 more for a step up in quality?

Took apart the handle one more time and put a hard drive magnet right by the contact. No attraction at all. Looks and feels like Aluminium.
 
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Offline dreamcat4

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #984 on: October 07, 2023, 08:15:38 am »
Guys I found it!! It's the handle!

haha well of course it was fairly likely going to be the handle, and principally because you did well to test bare cartridge and then include mention of that in the earlier report. thanks for these detailed new examinations. it is very much interesting matters and as another owner of same product. to know of these possible issues occuring is indeed very helpful. good day my friend

 :-+
« Last Edit: October 07, 2023, 08:18:25 am by dreamcat4 »
 

Offline dreamcat4

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #985 on: October 07, 2023, 11:11:50 am »
Oh, or maybe it is the PSU.  There's possibly the same blips during the pulse, though more balanced looking; dampened from the heavy load present perhaps?  Then the pulses decaying would be the PSU throttling back down.

6 pulses / 104us (that's 104us/div, right? huh...) sounds like a plausible PSU frequency.

Ok @c0d3z3r0 - this if you try remove SMPS from the whole circuit here. And instead power the controller board front panel from DC lab or bench PSU. At appropriate voltage with a high current alternative power source if you have any?

And then see if and remaining buzzing can be due to poor firmware (floating the GPIO)? After elimination of PSU component.

Also: sorry but i did not track which exact firmware version you are running now? (with these buzzing issues?). But if you can please say. For example I am stuck on v1.26 firmwares here (because why ever upgrade past the v1.26? --> does not seem to offer anything  important "enough" was ever added with thee T245 handles after the v1.26?)
 

Offline c0d3z3r0

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #986 on: October 07, 2023, 12:05:45 pm »
Looks suspiciously like EFT, but of much lower amplitude.  Could be stray inductance bouncing against a diode.

Is this anything that needs or can be fixed?

Oh, or maybe it is the PSU.  There's possibly the same blips during the pulse, though more balanced looking; dampened from the heavy load present perhaps?  Then the pulses decaying would be the PSU throttling back down.

I guess the PSU is indeed overloaded (assuming they really limited it to 120W): 7.5A * 22.5V = 168.75 W. However, I am unsure about the limit because I a) don't know the winding count of the transformer and b) don't have a eletronic load to test.
Check out this post for PSU details, maybe you have an idea? https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/any-opinions-on-the-aixun-t3a/925/

6 pulses / 104us (that's 104us/div, right? huh...) sounds like a plausible PSU frequency.

Correct, 104us/div. The PSU is swichting at 72.5kHz. Check out this post for PSU details: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/any-opinions-on-the-aixun-t3a/925/

I didn't catch where this was probed or how, but if it's the heater switch transistor,

Well, the "where" can be answered: Q4-1 (pin 1), heater transistor. See schematics https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev/blob/master/schematics/aixun_t3a.pdf
But what do you mean with "how"?

I can see the HF pulses are around 66kHz so an artifact from the SMPS and/or scope grounding.

Just an artifact that we can ignore, right?

Oh well, maybe the PSU was way to close to the scope...  https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/smps-killed-my-radio-reception.373045/page-2

- PWM signal at Q4-1: RigolDS15
That looks terrible, something wrong with the MCU PWM output. After it's finished the pulse to mosfet driver Q4-B it looks like the output pin is wrongly changed to floating? It shouldn't cause a problem but it shows sloppy coding. Who thinks that heater pulse of 0.05msec is good for anything too lol.

See, that's what I meant. I don't think their timings (and frequency) make any sense :D

R6 10k is too big and the slow mosfet turn off. Note you want the gate driven to it's max. in the event you run this off batteries and have lower VCC say 16-19V.

I have too little experience with correct values for the MOSFET - what would be right here, then? Are 10k ok for 24V but just not for lower voltages?


Guys I found it!! It's the handle!

haha well of course it was fairly likely going to be the handle

And still the problems probably wouldn't occur if they didn't use such weird heater timings/freq. Remember, control board and SMPS are still buzzing (at least for me). IMO the handle noise is just a (another) symptom.

Ok @c0d3z3r0 - this if you try remove SMPS from the whole circuit here. And instead power the controller board front panel from DC lab or bench PSU. At appropriate voltage with a high current alternative power source if you have any?

And then see if and remaining buzzing can be due to poor firmware (floating the GPIO)? After elimination of PSU component.

Unfortunately, I have no PSU with 7.5A. Maximum I can work with is 6A. I can give it a try but I guess this doesn't really help. Maybe lowering the voltage helps...

Also: sorry but i did not track which exact firmware version you are running now? (with these buzzing issues?). But if you can please say. For example I am stuck on v1.26 firmwares here (because why ever upgrade past the v1.26? --> does not seem to offer anything  important "enough" was ever added with thee T245 handles after the v1.26?)

v1.26 here because it works for me and I don't want to do any experiments with chinese "bugfixing"  ::)

The handle socket is aluminum?  :palm:  Try put a magnet on the leafs if you ever go there again and see if it's steel.
It's too bad china avoids copper and nickel-plating at all costs, giving us el crapola connections. We can't pay $1 more for a step up in quality?

Took apart the handle one more time and put a hard drive magnet right by the contact. No attraction at all. Looks and feels like Aluminium.

Ouch. Thanks for testing!


« Last Edit: October 07, 2023, 12:12:25 pm by c0d3z3r0 »
AiXun T3A reverse engineering: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev
AiXun T3x F(L)OSS update tool: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3x_updater
 

Offline dreamcat4

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #987 on: October 07, 2023, 04:14:55 pm »
Unfortunately, I have no PSU with 7.5A. Maximum I can work with is 6A. I can give it a try but I guess this doesn't really help. Maybe lowering the voltage helps...

Haha yes (I sadly suspected - because you would have tried by now already). So I don't wish to put you out of your way here, because sourcing alternate PSU can be a distraction / hassles. But to think (how to obtain more easy) something of 19-24v supply at high amperage (for example 10a). Well...

* Can you disconnect / remove 2x of lead acid from any vehicles, UPS, house alarm, etc?
* Because (of course) 2x 12v = 24v at high currents (lead acid). And 0 noise or anything bat to resonate introduced from supply.

So if not 2 regular cars, then any other such devices you can access, that is smaller 12v lead-acid. A scooter, or something else. Or maybe an rc type packs, or whatever else you have for transportation, or UPS also (uses small lead acids). Any like those.

Ok so not - then of course maybe more moderns LiPo packs perhaps could be. If not power tools than other random stuff.

Ok so not anything batteries powered - then the high current laptop power brick (of a quality brands, like Dell or HP, Lenovo). It can be high enough currents (some of) for 180w for a gaming laptop. Now it would be only 19v. But that is still high enough to power aixun t3a. And mainly here you don't have because many laptops are lower current, like 65w or 100w. And then the power bricks are too-low current. Like 4a or 6a.

I am out of ideas for you after this then. Since it's just easier to eliminate SMPS from circuit for further testing. To take the lowest hanging fruit. And without risking mains probing, or safety issues, for example if you do not have relevent safety equipments like isolating transformer (and it to be of high enough watts), differential probes etc... To then debug same  original aixun t3a SMPS live and in-circuit.

So clearly yes, higher current 24v supply. It can be a useful help here. Because other users (who isn't you) has not such same buzzing issues to access such same example of such faulted buzzing device.

But here's another question: was it always buzzing this ways? And/or did you think yet to service the handle? Because by all accounts it kindda seems like (what with aluminium contacts). That during the device operations lifetime. We are changing tips about. The more tip changes accumulates, the more these aluminium contacts (that is supported by plastic channels). That it can get bent out of original shapes eventually. After so much usage. And then need "servicing" as drsky so helpful, to provide those recent photo guide.

I would not dismiss handle servicing! (it's really only more of a case of to delay until WHEN, rather than if at all). At some point... we all probably are going to face question whether to open handle. Give those same servicing / maintenance to the contact points.
 

Offline c0d3z3r0

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #988 on: October 07, 2023, 04:22:53 pm »
Short: Nope, I had all these ideas as well but I have nothing that fits.  :-// I will test with what I have later and let's see how it goes.

But here's another question: was it always buzzing this ways? And/or did you think yet to service the handle?

Yes it was always buzzing the same from the beginning. And... how often do I need to emphasize that even with the fixed handle (not buzzing anymore), the controller and SMPS still buzz?
AiXun T3A reverse engineering: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev
AiXun T3x F(L)OSS update tool: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3x_updater
 

Offline c0d3z3r0

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #989 on: October 07, 2023, 04:47:18 pm »
So, I got my ancient Voltcraft bench supply from the cellar. Event though the current limit triggered and voltage went down to 22V, it somehow "worked".
Surprise, surprise, the controller board is still buzzing. When I loosen the handle contacts again, it starts to buzz as well again.

So, I think I have enough evidence to believe this is neither a SMPS nor a handle issue and both are just a symptom of the whole problem: weird timing / frequency combined with bad driving of the MOSFET.
The SMPS might not be optimal and the handle has this contact issue but both are not the root cause of the buzzing problem.
AiXun T3A reverse engineering: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev
AiXun T3x F(L)OSS update tool: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3x_updater
 
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Offline floobydust

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #990 on: October 07, 2023, 05:15:42 pm »
Yes it looks like bad firmware 1.34 generating goofy PWM as the main cause of the audible noise.
I have seen aluminum connections make noise as far as small arcing due to the poor connection. I thought a steel socket could do it as well if the magnetic forces caused vibration.

For twice the price of a T12 clone station, I don't see the value and the design is still unpolished.
 

Offline T3sl4co1l

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #991 on: October 07, 2023, 07:20:03 pm »
I guess the PSU is indeed overloaded (assuming they really limited it to 120W): 7.5A * 22.5V = 168.75 W. However, I am unsure about the limit because I a) don't know the winding count of the transformer and b) don't have a eletronic load to test.
Check out this post for PSU details, maybe you have an idea? https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/any-opinions-on-the-aixun-t3a/925/

I'm not sure that's the post you meant to link:

Oh well, yes, actually any sort of regularly turning power on/off is in fact "PWM". What I mean is that Aixun uses a PWM signal that is again turned on/off regularly, so low-freq PWM on a high-freq PWM signal.

EDIT2: Checking the output of the Unisolder with an oscilloscope for comparison could help... anyone?

EDIT3: Hmm... had a quick look, I might been wrong... maybe their PID algorithm is just weird or they use bad or non-optimal parameters. I wasn't able to full reverse-engineer it, yet

I'm familiar with posts below here as I noticed the correlation with the EE.SE post.  PSU hasn't been discussed since, so I don't have a clue.

It seems to be pretty fast, anyway; responding within 100us is alright.

In fact, if it is indeed ramping up and down during and after the pulse, it sounds like pole-zero compensation, which means for short transients, the supply Zo is resistive.  That is, for frequencies in the flat gain region above the zero, loop gain is fixed, i.e. some step change in Vo causes a proportional step change in converter input current, and thus output current, and so we expect some resistive delta Vo / delta Io for frequencies in this range, or pulses of comparable duration.

I'm assuming it's a basic TL431 regulated flyback.


Quote
Well, the "where" can be answered: Q4-1 (pin 1), heater transistor. See schematics https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev/blob/master/schematics/aixun_t3a.pdf
But what do you mean with "how"?

I don't know the board layout, I don't know how inductive it is, or what the CM noise might be like, what the probe ground clip looks like (length, orientation and where it's connected).

A key point for the control, given there's only one ground return wire in the handle, will be common mode due to cable inductance and resistance.  Likely both are substantial.  Hopefully it's either well enough filtered to avoid such errors, or sampled exclusive of the heating pulse; but the long time constant on the thermocouple amplifier might suggest otherwise.  Another point in favor, on ramp-up it still makes noise, i.e. it doesn't drive at 100% duty.

Sampling too soon could easily be a cause of filtering/slow switching causing it to misread or error out.  In other words, it depends on its hard switching as a design assumption.

Which further invalidates my EE.SE answer, but such information was never provided in the background to it (or maybe still isn't known at all, to any certainty that is, depending on how deeply the control has been probed, or if indeed the firmware has been extracted or decompiled).  I probably delete the answer anyway, because anyone searching on the product issue will bring with them all the assumptions about the product itself, assumptions I never had.

Oh, did I ever link that? It was here...
https://electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/682699/pwm-circuit-that-switches-mosfet-with-soft-edges
I suppose it's just as well that it's closed, but Google will still find it.



Quote
Just an artifact that we can ignore, right?

Oh well, maybe the PSU was way to close to the scope...  https://www.diyaudio.com/community/threads/smps-killed-my-radio-reception.373045/page-2

Well... maybe.  I suppose it's not a functional problem at least.  Maybe it's still a radiated or conducted issue.  I wouldn't be surprised if it's untested.

It's certainly an ESD problem, not so much in terms of ESD per se, but the considerably lower impedance of the ground-return path, plus several volts of switching transients, isn't going to play well with anything that's grounded and also has diode junctions or whatever in it.  You shouldn't be soldering on a plugged-in circuit anyway, but this is a likely assumption many will make regardless, and I think has already been noted in this or the other thread.

Easiest resolution would be changing to 24VAC (lower dI/dt, and, use whole-cycle switching), and run an independent ground wire (or combine it with the thermocouple but NOT the heater current).  (Since we're talking response times of 100s ms, residual 50/60Hz can be notched out to further improve performance.)  But, that's easy only on the conceptual design level.  Far easier on a finished unit, considering ones' required labor input, to dump it in the trash and buy a better one... but y'all probably knew that already.

Put another way: you're very quickly running out of simple solutions (like fixing components or changing around filtering) that don't also involve updating the firmware.


Quote
The handle socket is aluminum?  :palm:  Try put a magnet on the leafs if you ever go there again and see if it's steel.
It's too bad china avoids copper and nickel-plating at all costs, giving us el crapola connections. We can't pay $1 more for a step up in quality?

Took apart the handle one more time and put a hard drive magnet right by the contact. No attraction at all. Looks and feels like Aluminium.

Ouch. Thanks for testing!

Eek. All the more reason to throw it out.  I don't see any way a loose (well, sprung, give or take how tight it stays) aluminum contact handles, any current at all really, let alone the pulses here.  :scared:

Tim
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Bringing a project to life?  Send me a message!
 

Offline dreamcat4

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #992 on: October 07, 2023, 07:43:28 pm »
Eek. All the more reason to throw it out.  I don't see any way a loose (well, sprung, give or take how tight it stays) aluminum contact handles, any current at all really, let alone the pulses here.  :scared:

yeah clearly it's a too low cost of design handle. that is not desirable choices for long term usage. after wearing enough tip changes. or just you know, if it gets bent out of shape unduely, with a rought handling.

for example if somebody takes the new handle. and plays with it in their hands like a toy, and tries to bend the whole main handle thing. then the moulded plastics will flex enough to a point to then deform the alu contacts inside within the channels. and this will mess it up.

there's a few solutions. probably easiest is just buy a genuine jbc original t245 handle. and you know, check it's same wiring to cartridge. and replace the whole handle for however much they cost. perhaps 60-80 dollars. and this requires probably some little rewire, like replace the official jbc hirose plug with the 5 pin gx12-5 aviation connector style.

or if not that, then a more reputable chinese handle at least. for example i have such other chinese type handle sitting in my draw. which was purchased before even aixun t3a existed, and it cost something about $35.

wheras if you look at the purchase options for t3a packages, there is versions with and without such blue handle, at different price points. so perhaps this exact thing aixun bundles is worth something half of that. maybe $17 lets throw as an example. at least clearly you should not wish to purchase these handles anymore. even if buying the aixun base unit. then save that few dollars towards discount a proper jbc handle...

but lets say you want to open these aixun handle up and do some servicing. then after re-bending the aluminum contacts. we might consider to insert some extra metal shims. and on both sides of the channels. on the cartridge touching side. then some better shim of copper or something that is better for the electrical contacting.

optionally maybe it can benefit a speay contact cleaner too? what do they call it? electrolytic lubricants or something for greasing potentiometers? but perhaps that can upset things here?

ok but for structural mechanical reinforcement. then another shim onto the other side of the plastic channels. to be stainless steel. some more rigid metal. that is going to apply a pressure and also spring back to shape. which the aluminium contactor does not want to do.

so with those shims approach, might improve. that is if you cannot replace entirely the aluminium contacts. and want a low effort. and not spend monies. and have to open the handle anyhows.

but of course better solution will be an official jbc handle. people have said this before - they really are such a nice quality and worth paying for. the $60-$80. is best approach.

as to base unit, those are different matters. different set of considerations. not to conflate 1 for the other.
 

Offline c0d3z3r0

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #993 on: October 07, 2023, 09:18:09 pm »
I guess the PSU is indeed overloaded (assuming they really limited it to 120W): 7.5A * 22.5V = 168.75 W. However, I am unsure about the limit because I a) don't know the winding count of the transformer and b) don't have a eletronic load to test.
Check out this post for PSU details, maybe you have an idea? https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/any-opinions-on-the-aixun-t3a/925/

I'm not sure that's the post you meant to link:

Meh. No, that's the right one: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/reviews/any-opinions-on-the-aixun-t3a/msg5089174/#msg5089174

I'm assuming it's a basic TL431 regulated flyback.

Yes

Easiest resolution would be changing to 24VAC (lower dI/dt, and, use whole-cycle switching)

Yep, I said this earlier in this thread, AC would be better also bc it would make correct earthing way easier and wouldn't interfere with tc measurements... DC creates all sorts of problems :/

Put another way: you're very quickly running out of simple solutions (like fixing components or changing around filtering) that don't also involve updating the firmware.

Patching the fw is not a real problem. I've done it already for replacing the display :D https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev/tree/master/patch

Yes it looks like bad firmware 1.34 generating goofy PWM as the main cause of the audible noise.

V1.26 here ;)
AiXun T3A reverse engineering: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev
AiXun T3x F(L)OSS update tool: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3x_updater
 

Offline tony359

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #994 on: October 08, 2023, 07:20:45 pm »
Can someone please identify the round 5pin soldering iron plug for me? I have some hot tweezers coming and I understand I might need to re-wire the plug so I wanted to source one but the ones I find are bigger. If someone had a link or a code that would help a lot!

Thanks!
 

Offline c0d3z3r0

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #995 on: October 08, 2023, 09:01:06 pm »
Can someone please identify the round 5pin soldering iron plug for me? I have some hot tweezers coming and I understand I might need to re-wire the plug so I wanted to source one but the ones I find are bigger. If someone had a link or a code that would help a lot!

Thanks!

GX12-5
AiXun T3A reverse engineering: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev
AiXun T3x F(L)OSS update tool: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3x_updater
 

Offline drksy

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #996 on: October 09, 2023, 04:47:12 am »
So, I think I have enough evidence to believe this is neither a SMPS nor a handle issue and both are just a symptom of the whole problem: weird timing / frequency combined with bad driving of the MOSFET.

What if you buffer the output of Q4 with a Schmitt trigger and design your own gate drive circuit? I really don't like the look of that floating Q4 voltage either, I'll probably try this myself as soon as my mosfets arrive. You did mention putting together an Arduino circuit or an arbgen to test if PWMing can be done at all without buzz. That'd be a really useful experiment. If you can manage to design a buzz-free high power PWM circuit, you can "walk backwards" from that towards the Aixun to pinpoint what they are doing wrong.
 
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Offline c0d3z3r0

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #997 on: October 09, 2023, 03:07:58 pm »
You did mention putting together an Arduino circuit or an arbgen to test if PWMing can be done at all without buzz. That'd be a really useful experiment. If you can manage to design a buzz-free high power PWM circuit, you can "walk backwards" from that towards the Aixun to pinpoint what they are doing wrong.

Yep, I still have that plan, but I'm pretty busy atm


What if you buffer the output of Q4 with a Schmitt trigger and design your own gate drive circuit? I really don't like the look of that floating Q4 voltage either,

I'm going to check what the firmware is doing. Maybe patching that is enough. Maybe adding a pull-up is enough? Could be done in hardware as well ofc
AiXun T3A reverse engineering: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev
AiXun T3x F(L)OSS update tool: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3x_updater
 
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Offline c0d3z3r0

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #998 on: October 10, 2023, 04:38:52 pm »
Heater GPIO init in firmware v1.26:

Code: [Select]
  rcu_periph_clock_enable(RCU_GPIOA);
  gpio_init((uint32_t)&GPIOA_CTL0, GPIO_MODE_OUT_PP, GPIO_OSPEED_50MHZ, PA8_HEATER);

Heater function:

Code: [Select]
void __fastcall set_heater_timer(int cnt_of_50us)
{
  __int16 cnt_50us_0; // r4

  cnt_50us_0 = cnt_of_50us;
  if ( cnt_of_50us )
  {
    gpio_bit_set((uint32_t)&GPIOA_CTL0, PA8_HEATER);
    timer_autoreload_value_config((uint32_t)&TIMER0_CTL0, 50 * cnt_50us_0);
    timer_enable((uint32_t)&TIMER0_CTL0);
  }
  else
  {
    gpio_bit_reset((uint32_t)&GPIOA_CTL0, PA8_HEATER);
    timer_disable(&TIMER0_CTL0);
  }
}

Soooo, why the heck does Q4-1 look that weird on the scope when the GPIO is push-pull?!  :-BROKE
« Last Edit: October 10, 2023, 04:42:44 pm by c0d3z3r0 »
AiXun T3A reverse engineering: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3a_rev
AiXun T3x F(L)OSS update tool: https://github.com/c0d3z3r0/aixun_t3x_updater
 
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Offline dreamcat4

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Re: Any opinions on the AiXun T3A?
« Reply #999 on: October 10, 2023, 06:00:31 pm »
Soooo, why the heck does Q4-1 look that weird on the scope when the GPIO is push-pull?!  :-BROKE

Well, if the GPIO is actually broken on the mcu, is it possible to measure onto that pin, and compare readings to other GPIO pins?
(perhaps to lift up a single pin on the QSFP, this is possible justification?)


Because isn't the GPIOs are a bit meh on these GD32 silicon. Although i forget now exactly the specs that somebody else found out. Some written paragraph in the data sheet somewhere gives a supposed data FWIW (although not sure I myself would trust as such).
 


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